One, Two, Three, Bungee!

A horrifically early start greeted us the morning of our flight, but the sky was fairly clear so things were looking good. Quick ride to the airport and through security and we were left watching a funny looking Guru on telly preaching for a while before we were taken to the plane. Everyone had a window seat which gave pretty good views all around and after about 20 minutes the (most un-smiley person I've ever seen) pilot opened the door and we were allowed to go up and see the cockpit and the view over to Everest. Me being lucky at being sat in the front row meant I went first and got the first view of the mountain through the front windows - certainly an impressive sight but it doesn't look much bigger than all the others around it which also look very impressive. The plane does a loop so everyone can see it from both sides of the plane so I have loads of photos all much the same of the mountain in the distance, should hit Facebook soon...

On returning to Kathmandu we drove out of town on what was to be my last trip on Archie, our not-always-that-reliable truck, towards the Tibet border and The Last Resort, an adventure holiday sort of place which I absolutely loved. You drive along a bumpy road following the river for 50 or so km, dodging parts of the road hit by landslides and then round a corner and see a footbridge crossing a huge gorge in the distance. This bridge is the only way to the resort and it isn't the most sturdy of things and has slats in the floor where you can look down 160m to the raging river below. Luckily I was desperate for the loo the first time I went over and I just kept looking ahead, otherwise I might not have got across!
Accommodation is in large tents with tin roofs over them, with beds, tables etc. so you feel close to nature but nicely away from it. There's a bar and large covered chilling out area where we spent most of our time when not doing activities, of which there were quite a few on offer...
The first morning 8 or 9 of us had signed up to do the canyon swing and bungee jump from the bridge, so I woke incredibly early in an excited/terrified mood. We were weighed for the bungee jump and then headed to the bridge. Pete went first, choosing to do the swing by his back so it feels like you're flying through the gorge. Seeing him jump and then just drop vertically did little to calm my nerves as it takes 3 or 4 seconds before the rope takes up the slack and starts to arrest your fall. Luckily I had the excuse that I was taking photos from the top so a few others went first and gradually you get used to the feeling of standing on a wobbly bridge (with schoolkids running along it as if it's the most normal thing in the World, which I guess it is for them) and the fact that you're about to jump off it. Eventually it came to my turn and I was strapped into the harness and reluctantly shuffled my way onto the platform, took a deep breath and waited for the jump master to count down and let go of me, when I took a small step forward and started to yell as loudly as I could, then let go of the rope (there's not much point in holding it as it's attached to your waist) and fell towards the floor. Seconds later I felt the rope tighten and start to swing me along the canyon and I felt a huge sense of relief that I wasn't actually dead. I swung on the rope a few times and then a rope was raised that I could pull myself to the side with. On reaching the side my first thought was, lets do a bungee jump too! So we trekked the 20 minutes up out of the gorge to the bridge again and prepared to jump.
Again I wussed out and waited until someone else had gone so Andrew had the pleasure of going first, doing a perfect dive towards the river below, then bouncing back the other side towards us on the bridge.
I was called over to put on the waist safety harness and then the tight ankle harness, then slowly shuffled towards the platform where I was clipped to the rope and helped to the edge. It was at this point I made the mistake of looking down between the slats on the platform and seeing again how far I was about to fall, so my plan for an elegant fall forwards and jump turned into one of my swimming pool stylee bend my knees and plop over the edge. As soon as I was off the platform for some reason I felt safe and absolutely loved it - seeing the ground rushing towards me and knowing there was nothing I could do about it so I might as well enjoy it! The rope slowly took up the tension and I was tilted downwards until I stopped and was then pinged right back up again towards the other side of the bridge, yelling like a madman all the way. After about 3 bounces I started to spin so I couldn't tell how high I was or where I was going but I was gently lowered towards the ground where I grabbed a pole held over the water and was dragged down to a table where the rope was taken off and I decided I really wanted to do that again. By the time I'd walked to the top of the gorge again I changed my mind and decided to do it in a few days time as it's such hard work walking up again!
We had the rest of the day to ourselves to recover and relax (and have a massage if we wanted, but after the last experience I decided not to!), then the next day we booked canyoning, where you wear a wetsuit and harness and slip, slide and abseil down a waterfall into the gorge. This involved 7 abseils of various lengths, the longest being 45m, and took about 2 hours. By the last one I had almost got used to it but still couldn't help holding on too tightly and getting cramp in my left hand (the one that doesn't need to hold anything). After that a few of us made use of the sauna and plunge pool to unwind before food.
Our last morning at the resort we got up early again to do some more jumps for those of us who wanted to. Kirsten and Elaine who hadn't jumped the last time had been persuaded to do it this time, so after a few people from another group had gone, they went, giving a most impressive display of screaming and peddling in the air as they dropped!
I chose to do another bungee but jumping backwards this time, so you see the bridge disappearing into the distance as you fall. I was terrified again but made it over to the platform, shuffled backwards until my feet were halfway over the edge, paused for a moment then heard the countdown - one, two, three, bungee! And leant back over the edge and kicked away from the platform, screaming at the top of my voice and then laughing as the rope caught me and I boinged back towards the bridge, spinning slowly in the air. What an experience!
We left the resort that morning but a few of us had signed up to go rafting so we left the rest of the group to take the truck back to Kathmandu and went in a bus with a load of other rafters. There were about 25 of us in 3 boats this time, with 2 kayaks with us for safety and a guide in every boat. After a long safety briefing covering falling in, turning upside down etc. I started to wonder how much worse it could be than our last time as the river looked similar, but as soon as we set off it became clear - the guides were complete nutters! With 3 boats every time we got to a rapid one would head towards the roughest part and see if it would flip (which none of them did in the end), with the other 2 boats ready to pull people out who floated downstream. On calmer bits we were encouraged (or pushed) to jump in the water, invade other boats and push them out, shout abuse at others ("Secretary, Follow Me, Make Me Tea" being my favourite) and generally mess around - it was great! If we get the chance to go again then we'll be looking to do it in a larger group as it was ten times better than our first trip.
When we finally finished we got on the bus which took us to Kathmandu, where we then went out for the night as Sam is leaving us to head home. My head still hurts now...